It was quite good. Has an interesting premise to it and the characters all seemed pretty likable. Can't wait to see where this goes.

That's the best intro episode possibly of any KR series ever. So good. It did everything it needed to do and it did it well. It established the main character, as well as his motivations, gave an intro to the supporting cast, set up the tone of the series and showed how it's different from past Rider series. If they nail the overall story, this show could be something special. Really looking forward to more.

Also helps that the fight scenes are super Kabuto-esque, which I love. Some awesome fighting. The Drive suit looks amazing in motion, even with the pretty silly tire sash. Love those headlight compound eyes.

It was neat! Ready for Kamen Rider Mach now though.

So...it's Kiva, but with GoOnger elements, and the comedy of Den-O.

Let's take it by pieces.

Main Character Plot - Rising star cop ends up killing his partner accidentally, and now has been sent down to the bottom of the class. Not wholly original, but alright.

Main Storyline Plot - Monsters showing up slows down time while they can cause massive damage. Oh Den-O, we missed you.

Supporting cast - Goofy underlings and a morality pet that's easy on the eyes but hard on the main character. Check.

Henshin/Belt gimmick - Kiva all over again, but with the same shift shift elements that made Gaim understandable come across ham handed. The appearing Hot Wheels tracks is also a nuisance ala Den-O. Minature cars from nowhere!

I don't know. It's good in some elements, and it's not like I'm gonna stop watching, but I already don't have it pegged as my favorite Rider series. If they toned down the slapstick nonsense, and the belt shut up a little, I'd be okay. As it stands, I had a serious Knight Rider vibe out of the whole thing. It's like they gave the Hoff a Rider suit. Even Trideron comes off as a red version of KITT. It's.....well at least Mach has a bike of some sort. Damn, I miss the horses.

The first scene where they introduced Kirihiko really made me think of this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5D5oKEVqQJg

Oh man I thought of that too!

Rather good first episode. I am not gonna hold this to Gaims awesomeness, but for itself it is a good one.

I'd be more concerned if it was your favorite series after just one episode. The show will find its footing over the next few weeks; it's really too soon to call it one way or the other.

Really good first episode. I have to say the suit has grown on me now that I've seen it in action, although I still think that spoiler is goofy.

this me and my Friend Review of Kamen Rider Drive 01

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qQmnUNkyGg

Overall great episode! Not sure if anyone's mentioned this but, I swear, when Kiriko zipped her boot up they played the Helheim crack noise.

Yyyep, still can't find this uploaded on YouTube. Anyone else have more luck? :lol

Found a stream on DailyMotion, just had to find it through google. I had the same problem though, I guess no one has uploaded to Youtube just yet.

I usually just get it directly from the sub group's site. It's a lot easier than trying to scour the web for a (potentially) low quality upload.

A good episode, with likeable characters. Maybe the cars looks too much at the gimmicks trains in ToQGer. I can't remember who had the "Kamen Rider Michelin" sig but that was exactly that !

From a storytelling point of view, I'm not a fan of the classic first episode formula, when the writer MUST throw all the new Bandai toys to our faces.
I prefer slower intros that covers more than one episode and that take its time to let exposition gradually in.

Ah, I alwasy forget Dailymotion still exists heh... I'll check it out when I get home today, thanks!

especially, when the midnight shadow shift car/form didnt get released yet, they only time they didnt throw gimmicks in one episode was w and ooo, they were both using the gimmicks that came with their drivers luna in w and mantis in 000 and nothing else.

they should be using the forms that came with the belt because people bought the drivers for their debuts and should be used accurately.

Fourze also only used the four switches that came with the Driver in the first two episodes. Same goes with Gaim who only used Orange Arms in the first episode of Gaim :)

We literalliy knew nothing about Drive or his combat style going in to this episode, so I don't really get what was so inaccurate about it…

Same thing with the two series you've mentioned, Toei has 45-47 episodes a season soooo why drop all of their eggs at once?

Very excited to see how this series progresses, also it's my first Rider show that I'll be following from start to finish (hopefully) on a weekly basis (started Gaim almost midseason). Definitely interested to get to know Kiriko and her backstory, she's a very intriguing character thus far. The Drive Driver reminds me of GekiRyuKen in some respects.

The belt reminds me of Kivat, which is great. So happy the driver is sentient. :D Enjoyed it a lot, looking forward to the next one.

Finally got a chance to watch the first episode. It was alright. Nowhere near the debut of Wizard. I wasn't expecting it to be as silly, I thought (incorrectly as it seems) that with our hero being a policeman, that this might be a serious show. I'll give it a few more episodes for sure.

So, with your initial expectations, how do you think a police drama-Kamen Rider series would work?

I figured that our hero would be a detective who would investigate crimes and wind up uncovering kaijin whom he would have to fight. Sort of like the American show Grimm, if that helps any.

The Special Crimes Unit aspect seems more like a comedy than a drama, but the second episode was better, even with the silly "home team" bits. But it was just not what I was expecting.